In power for more than 20 years, he is now strongly
challenged inside the country. As part of his bloody struggle with white
farmers, he is targeting independent journalists and foreign reporters. In
2001, Zimbabwe became the African country with the worst press freedom
situation. Twenty local journalists were arrested and three foreign
correspondents deported. Mugabe and his government make constant
sensational statements against the press, which they regularly accuse of
"spying" or "terrorism." Yet the former schoolteacher, who has six
university degrees, was hailed as a liberator when he won the 1980
presidential elections which ended white minority rule. Today he charges
that the privately-owned local press only tells "lies" and that foreign
media are out to "destabilise" the country.

PredatorsThey order
violations of press freedom and have others do the deed. They might be
president, cabinet minister, army chief, Guide of the Revolution or leader
of an armed group. All have the power to jail, kidnap, torture and even
kill journalists. Because they have faces, we should learn to recognise
these predators the better to denounce them.

Downing Street has refused to give a commitment that
the UK would try to block a visit to France by Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean president is currently the subject of EU sanctions
including a travel ban but that is due to expire in mid-February.

To be personally invited by the president of France is
outrageous

Michael AncramShadow foreign
secretary

Next Monday the
issue will come up for discussion at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in
Brussels.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, Tony Blair said the
government stood behind travel restrictions on the Zimbabwe president.

The prime minister's spokesman said another set of sanctions would have
to be agreed unanimously and the French had yet to submit a proposal over
their planned Paris summit.

"This is a live issue. It will obviously be discussed on Monday.
There's been no formal proposal yet from the French government and I'm not
going to pre-empt our government's position," said the spokesman.

Discussions

Yves Charpentier, head of press at the French Embassy in London,
confirmed that France was considering inviting President Mugabe to the
summit, but stressed: "Nothing has been decided yet.

"We will be discussing this among the EU members at next week's
meeting."

But the Tories demanded to know whether the UK had approved a visit to
France by Mr Mugabe at the invitation of Jacques Chirac.

Mr Blair said: "We've made it clear that we support the sanctions in
place against Zimbabwe."

Hypocrisy

The Foreign Office earlier said it had had no request to waive an EU
imposed travel ban on Mr Mugabe.

The summit was a matter for the French authorities, Downing Street
said.

To allow Mr Mugabe to strut his stuff in Paris would be
absolutely unacceptable

Menzies CampbellLib Dem foreign
affairs

International
Development Secretary Clare Short has already told MPs she believed it
would be "disgraceful" if Mr Chirac invited Mr Mugabe to a Franco-African
summit on 19 February.

Conservative foreign affairs spokesman Michael Ancram said it was
"hypocrisy of the highest order" for Mr Chirac to invite Mugabe when EU
sanctions were supposed to ban travel within the union by Zimbabwe's
rulers.

"President Chirac is well aware not only of the dire situation in
Zimbabwe but that there are travel restrictions in force," said Mr Ancram.

Strut

He stressed: "No Franco-African summit can be exempt from the EU
sanctions.

"It is bad enough that Mugabe and his thugs can attend UN-sponsored
meetings in Europe, but to be personally invited by the president of
France is outrageous.

"While it may not be intentional, this can only be interpreted as
condoning genocide by starvation, ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and the
destruction of the rule of law."

Menzies Campbell MP, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said
Mr Mugabe should not be welcomed anywhere in the EU.

"To allow Mr Mugabe to strut his stuff in Paris would be absolutely
unacceptable," said Mr Campbell.

"At a time when his country is in freefall, when millions are facing
starvation, and when human rights are systematically flouted, there should
be no welcome for Mr Mugabe anywhere in the European Union."

Conservatives sources say that any exemption to the EU travel ban
requires unanimity among nation states, implying Britain must have agreed,
if the visit is approved.

LONDON (Reuters) -
The government is set for a stand-off with Franceover plans to ask
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to attend a summit ofAfrican leaders in
Paris next month, officials say.

French diplomats in London say no decision has yet been taken toinvite
Mugabe but that it is under consideration. A presidential palacespokesman in
Paris said officials able to comment on the matter were
notavailable.

The European Union
slapped travel bans on the much-criticised Africanleader and his cohorts
last year but the restrictions will expire in themiddle of next month and
are up for discussion at a meeting of EU foreignministers on
Monday.

"We've made it clear that we
support the sanctions that are in placeagainst Zimbabwe," Prime Minister
Tony Blair told parliament on Wednesday."The meeting, I understand, is to
take place on Monday and no agreement hasbeen
reached."

International Development
Secretary Clare Short was characteristicallymore
blunt.

"It would be disgraceful if
President Chirac invites Mugabe to Parisand it is rumoured he intends to do
so," she said in parliament.

The
problem, UK officials said, is that the EU travel ban may notcover the
period when Mugabe may be in Paris unless all 15 foreign ministersagree on
Monday to extend it.

An invitation
would sit badly with Blair, who has heavily criticisedthe Mugabe regime for
his policy of seizing white-owned farms to distributeto landless blacks -- a
programme which critics say has exacerbated foodshortages now faced by more
than half the country's 14 million
people.

"It is a live issue," Blair's
official spokesman said. "But we havehad no formal proposal from the French
government yet."

Blair has already
asked the England cricket team not to play inZimbabwe during next month's
World Cup, but the England team has resistedhis request and says it plans to
play.

His Conservative Party
opponents, already convinced Blair hassoft-pedalled over Mugabe, have
launched into the fray.

"It is time
for this Government to cast off its post-colonial guiltsyndrome and stand up
for the people of Zimbabwe," the party's foreignaffairs spokesman Michael
Ancram told reporters.

Harare - Zimbabwean workers ignored a national strike called
for Wednesdayby civic groups to protest at the policies of President Robert
Mugabe.

Factories and businesses opened and commuters streamed in to work
in Harare.Riot police, some armed with teargas, batons and guns, patrolled
thecapital's Mabvuku and Tafara townships on foot and in armoured
cars,witnesses said.

Police and helicopters also patrolled
Chitungwiza, a poor dormitory townnear Harare that is prone to political
violence.

There were no immediate reports of violence from across the
country, whichis grappling with its worst economic crisis since Mugabe came
to power onindependence from Britain in 1980.

The National
Constitutional Assembly - a coalition of church and studentgroups, rights
organisations and political parties - called the strike topress for a new
constitution.

Previous NCA protests have mostly flopped. Critics say it
has organised thempoorly and has coordinated badly with its ally, the main
opposition Movementfor Democratic Change (MDC).

Zimbabwe is
struggling with record unemployment and major food shortagesamid a drought
and following Mugabe's policy of seizing white-owned farmsfor redistribution
to landless blacks.

Political tensions are also high after Mugabe's
re-election in March amidaccusations of electoral fraud.

The NCA said
the job stay-away was simply a call for democracy and not aimedat disrupting
Zimbabwe's plans to host several cricket World Cup matchesnext month.
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed wasin Harare on
Wednesday to assess security arrangements for the matches.

The NCA is
against Zimbabwe hosting the matches but says Wednesday's strikeand a series
of demonstrations planned for during and after the World Cupwere
coincidental.

The
mention of the words war veterans conjures up images of large groups ofmen
marching through the city streets in demand of war pensions, or
stickwielding groups of people trying to accelerate the country's land
reformprogramme by camping outside white-owned farms up for
compulsoryacquisition.

Led by the late Chenjerai Hunzvi, a
controversial Polish-trained medicaldoctor, the war veterans had become such
a powerful force that PresidentRobert Mugabe took them on
board.

However, 12 years after its formation and almost two years after
the deathof Hunzvi, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans
Association(ZNLWA)is in a state of disintegration and in danger of being
replaced bythe newly trained youth militia.

"The war veterans
movement will never be the same without Hunzvi. It is onlya question of time
before the former freedom fighters become a spent force,"said John Makumbe,
a political science lecturer at the University ofZimbabwe.

The cracks
began to emerge earlier this year among a group of
Bulawayo-basedex-combatants. Former fighters from the Zimbabwe People's
Revolutionary Army(Zipra), which was the military wing of the Zimbabwe
African People's Union(Zapu) that merged with the ruling Zanu-PF in 1987,
called on theircolleagues to pull out of the ruling party.

This
followed clashes between the Bulawayo provincial chairman of the warveterans
association, Jabulani Sibanda, and senior Zanu-PF officials. TheBulawayo
branch accused party officials and senior staff at thegovernment-controlled
Grain Marketing Board, which has a monopoly on maizedistribution, of
corruption in the distribution of maize, and backed avolatile demonstration
by the city's residents outside one of the depots.

Max Mkandla, the
former Zipra representative was quoted in a privately owneddaily newspaper
as saying that Zanu-PF was using the war veterans forselfish gains and
alleged that the ruling party had sidelined the people ofMatabeleland during
the land redistribution exercise.

"Former Zipra fighters should stop
preaching Zanu-PF politics because itdoes not benefit them at the end of the
day," Mkandla said.

However, in a sign of splits within the organisation,
ZNLWVA actingchairman, Patrick Nyaruwata, dismissed Mkandla's call for a
breakawaysaying: "Who is Mkandla anyway? Is he not just one of those
misplacedelements being used to promote the interests of the enemy? While
differentviews are permitted within our movement, we shall not hesitate to
deal withdivisive people masquerading as war veterans."

Andy Mhlanga,
ZNLWVA secretary, said war veterans had not been allocated the20 of the
total land taken by the state during the land reform exercise ashad been
promised by government.

He said that some former combatants who had
occupied white-owned farms from2000, when the land reform programme began,
were evicted from the farms andnow had nowhere else to go. He also claimed
that top government officialshad allocated multiple farms for themselves at
the expense of the intendedbeneficiaries.

The election planned in
February to choose a new leadership for ZNLWVA mightalso rock the
organisation, analysts say. Since Hunzvi's death fromsuspected cerebral
malaria in May 2001, elections have been postponed onseveral occasions due
to the threat of divisions.

Mugabe, who is the association's patron, is
reported to have directed thatthe elections be delayed until after his
presidential election, fearing asplit in the vote.

This generated a
war of words between Andrew Ndlovu, who was projectssecretary, firebrand
Joseph Chinotimba and Nyaruwata.

Chinotimba, who is the chief inspector
in the Harare Municipal policesection and vice president of the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions, andNdlovu, wanted the elections to go ahead. But
Nyaruwata, a moderate seen bymany as Mugabe's close supporter, fought for
the elections to be postponed.

The ZNLWVA suffered a setback when some of
its members broke away two yearsago to form the Zimbabwe Liberation Platform
(ZLP). The breakaway wasreportedly caused by growing disillusionment among
by some members who wereworried by the violence and alleged killings
perpetrated by the ZNLWVA. TheZLP have since managed to win the support of
civil society, Makumbeobserved.

Lobbying ahead of next month's
election both Chinotimbe and Nyaruwata claimto be the popular
choice.

However, analysts say their support base may be eroded by the
training ofmilitias at state-run youth service centres countrywide, as a
ploy by Mugabeto replace the war veterans and ensure Zanu-PF's continued
grip on power.

In 2000 the Ministry of Youth, Gender and Employment
Creation started anational youth training programme that has churned out
militant graduateswho are allegedly being used to terrorise opposition party
supporters.

Shakespeare Maya, leader of the National Alliance for Good
Governance(Nagg), an emerging political party, said the creation of "Green
Bombers"was a deliberate move to cancel the influence of the war veterans
andeventually replace them.

He said the militias were already proving
to be an asset to Zanu-PF becauseof their youth, energy and zeal and
appeared to able to be present whereverthe ruling party needed
them.

This was particularly worrying in the light of recent reports that
themilitia had been seen supervising maize sales amid allegations
thatsupporters of Zanu-PF have been getting preferential treatment of the
grainwhich is in short supply.

Over seven million Zimbabweans now
need food aid due to economic problems,droughts and a disruption in farming
due to the land reform programme. -Irin

Harare - Zimbabwe's white farmers have said they
will support PresidentRobert Mugabe's controversial land-reform programme by
supplying new blackfarmers with equipment and teaching them skills, said the
state-run Heraldnewspaper on Wednesday.

Many white farmers here, who
numbered about 4 500 three years ago, have beenevicted from their farms
under a government programme aimed at resettlingthe land with previously
landless black farmers.

But, the resettlement programme has been hit by
shortages of equipment, fueland inputs such as seeds and fertiliser, and
there has been poor uptake ofthe land by some of the new black farmers, who
lack the capital forcommercial agriculture.

Top officials from the
white-run Commercial Farmers Union met agricultureminister Joseph Made on
Tuesday to discuss their support for land reform bymaking available "farming
equipment worth Z$30bn (about R4.9bn)", the papersaid.

The equipment
includes tractors, ploughs, combine harvesters, irrigationpipes and spraying
equipment. The farmers would also impart skills to newfarmers, said the
Herald.

"We are still Zimbabweans, we want to be part of the nation and
to be usefulin any way," CFU president Colin Cloete is reported to have
said.

Union has opted for dialogue

Relations between the farmers'
union and the government have been strainedbecause of legal challenges the
CFU mounted against the land acquisitions.

The CFU has since decided to
drop its "confrontational" stance for one ofdialogue.

However, a
splinter group, Justice for Agriculture, has continued to urgewhite farmers
to challenge the acquisition of their land.

"We have tried to take
politics out of the CFU," Cloete was quoted assaying.

The Herald said
the pledge showed the farmers' union "has come round toembrace the changes
that have taken place under the land reforms and havefound a positive role
in the country".

It was unclear on what terms the farmers would be
providing their farmequipment and skills.

The offer comes two weeks
after the agriculture minister appealed in theofficial media for white
farmers to make irrigation equipment available asit was
"strategic".

Zimbabwe has experienced poor rains for the past two years,
threateningcrops and putting the lives of an estimated eight million people
at risk offamine.

The Zimbabwe opposition and international aid
agencies have partly blamedfood shortages on the land-reform programme. The
government denies this, andblames the shortages entirely on
drought.

Please send any material for publication in the
Open Letter Forum to:Open Letter Forum <justice@telco.co.zw>

JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM No
18---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter
1: J.L.Robinson

All Council Members,Commercial Farmers
Union,Agriculture House,Marlborough.

Dear Council
Members,

As you approach the first Council meeting of the year, and
Zimbabwe findsitself facing ever- increasing starvation, I believe that
every farmer inthis country has some form of responsibility. As the
leadership ofCommercial Agriculture you have an even greater responsibility,
becauseyou are accountable for your action in the past, and for those
decisionsand actions that occur in the future. With reports of only about
sixhundred farmers farming properly, and a membership of less than
thirteenhundred, it would not be unreasonable to say that we have a problem
in theUnion.

If as a Council you can accept that we have a problem, I
assume that asthe responsible members, you will attempt to look into why we
are in thispredicament. After deciding the reason or reasons for our
predicament, Itrust that you will come up with some solutions to resolve the
problem.The first step here will possibly be look back at the words of
ReneDescartes (1596-1650) - "I think therefore I am." Whilst this may be
avery simple quote, I can assure you that it is very important that you
dothink. Once you have thought, then indeed "you will be."

This quote
was on a bill board as we left Cape Town, which caused me tocheck on
Descartes, and find that he had some more words for you OurCouncil - "Common
sense is the most widely shaped commodity, for every manis convinced that he
is well supplied with it." I am reliably informedthat Our Council members
are not an exception to this quote, and all Ihumbly ask Our Council is that
they use it this month.

I wish to draw the Council's attention to a
responsibility it must face upto, which occurred last year. Mr. Freeth was
dismissed "for failing toenunciate Council policy." I wish to draw Council's
attention to a fewfacts here. Mr. Freeth stood up for his farmers, he stood
up for what wasright in terms of Law, and overall, he stood up for what was
right inGod's eyes. For standing up for these principles, which were not
shared byyou the Council, he was dismissed. I have recently read about the
ItalianPrince who has just returned to Rome having lived in exile for fifty
sixyears, as a result of the family having collaborated with Mussolini.
Thefirst and only place the family went in Rome was for an audience with
thePope, and then went back to Switzerland, on the same day. Failure
"tothink" about Mr. Freeth in contrast to the Italian Prince will mean
that"therefore you are not" in Descartes' opinion, and many of the farmers
hestood up for, and in God's opinion, `I think.'

I wish you all the
best, because the results of your deliberations will befar reaching for us
all, but above all I ask you to remember "to think" and"use your common
sense."

Yours faithfully,J. L.
Robinson19.01.2003

---------------------------------------------------------------------------All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinionsof the
submitters, and do not necessarily represent the official viewpointof
Justice for Agriculture.

REMINDER: We are still carrying out the
Accountability exercise, and arelooking for the names of all human rights
violators and those who have beenofficially allocated farms through the A1
and A2 scheme. If you have thesedetails, particularly where the people
in question are politically linked,please send them to us at justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw.

Wanted to lease: Smallholding on part of a farm + or
– 50km from Harare.Must have a big
house.700m2 of sheds,
chicken houses, barns etc. Plus 1000 gal / hour of water availability.Phone Gordon or Joanne Craig on 064 6966
or 011 430 373.

#GC

* * * * * *

Kariba: house for occasional letting. Consists of 4
bedrooms, 3 bathrooms.Fully
furnished and equipped, swimming pool and double lock-up garage, walled and
serviced.House is located in
Baobab Ridge.Tel Ben Kaschula on
Harare 498121 or at CFU 309800.

Excellent high-powered Pioneer sound system for a
vehicle for sale, 12 CD changer, radio tape deck, 2 sets of speakers, and an
amplifier, in immaculate condition.Phone Tracey on 011 218 289 for further info and
viewing.

#AB

* * * * * *

Toshiba Laptop for sale: Toshiba 1.333Mhz

20G HD

DVD rom

248Mb ram

1.44 drive

Win XP 2002

Contact: Elmie on 091 235 510

NP

* * * * * *

Tobacco & Paprika
chemicals:

Tabamex Plus

Bactac

Dual Magnum

Pyrinex

Bull Doc

E.D.B

Methyl Bromide

Bond

Command

Lasso

Atrazine

Thionex

PVC Piping:

160mm Class 4,6 and 10

110mm Class 6

90mm Class 6

Assorted Steel:

Double Vee

Angle Iron

Round Bar

All very reasonably priced. For further information
please phone Mike on 073 2913, 011 212 527 or email: witland@utande.co.zw

Three bedroom luxury thatched house, bathrooms on
suite open plan kitchen upstairs bar with magnificent view, comes with a
domestic, lock up garage, sleeps maximum 8.Bookings can be made direct with Eve at
Lomagundi Lake side on 061-3037/39 bookings confirmed on
payment.

#

* * * * * *

ØPOSITIONS OFFERED

BLACKFORDBY AGRICULTURAL
INSTITUTE

DIPLOMA IN
AGRICULTURE

The Blackfordby
Agricultural Institute invites applications ONLY from suitably qualified young
persons for enrolment in a course leading to the award of a Diploma in
Agriculture.

The course extends over a
two-year period and provides instruction in general agriculture applicable to
Zimbabwe commercial farming activities.Crop farming, livestock management and horticulture are included together
with other necessary subjects such as agricultural science, engineering,
financial and farm management and computer science.The instruction is both academic and
practical.The Diploma is
considered for acceptance by universities in the United Kingdom as qualification
for entry to post diploma graduate courses.

ENTRANCE
QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants who qualify will
appear before a selection panel in May 2003 who will use the following criteria,
amongst others, in choosing the successful candidates:

Minimum of five GCE 'O'
Level passes or equivalent with credits in English Language, Mathematics and a
Science subject.

Preference is given to
applicants from a farming background and those with commercial farming
experience.

Successful candidates will
be notified before the end of May 2003.

COURSE
CALENDAR

The course will begin on
Tuesday, 29 July 2003 and end in June 2005.

FEES AND OTHER
EXPENSES

Due to the current economic
situation, boarding and tuition fees for the next intake cannot be determined
until June 2003.However, last year
fees were $500 000 (paid in the month preceding the start of the Course) and
intending applicants must consider the effect of inflation on this.Students are also expected to meet their
own personal and incidental expenses.

TRAINING
FARM

The Institute is sited on
Klein Kopjes Farm, some 70 kilometres from Harare Post Office, off either the
Lomagundi or Mvurwi Roads.

Intending students must
enclose a $500,00 administration fee when applying in writing for an application
form, which must be returned before 7 April 2003.

Letters should be addressed
to:THE
DIRECTOR

BLACKFORDBY
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE

P O BOX EH 197

EMERALD
HILL

HARARE

NP

* * * * * *

Person required with mechanical and
electrical/electronic experience to run department within a Marlborough based
company – specialists in installations, gates, garage doors, alarm systems and
electric fencing. Email taymech@africaonline.co.zw
or write to P.O. Box WGT61 Westgate, Harare.

AE18

* * * * * *

General manager SPCA

We are trying to find a suitable person to fill the
post of General Manager which has been vacant for some time and to date have not
been able to find the right person. This is permanent position and is very
challenging but also most rewarding. It is not for the faint hearted and is not
an 8 to 5, 5 day a week job.

This is a busy position, the core of which is the
promotion of Animal Welfare in the Harare/Chitungwiza area for a radius of
50kms.

4.Is tactful and level
headed. These are times when you will be dealing with very emotional people and
disturbing situations.

If you feel you have what it takes then please: email
me, Rick Summers on summersr@paprika.co.zw
or phone 04 487637 mobile 091 232 223 for further information. If you need more
information re the position please do not hesitate to contact me.

NP

* * * * *
*

BLACKFORDBY AGRICULTURAL
INSTITUTE

DIPLOMA IN
AGRICULTURE

Blackfordby Agricultural
Institute invites applications for a course leading to the award of a Diploma in
Agriculture.

The course extends over a two-year
period and provides academic and practical instruction in general agriculture
applicable to Zimbabwe commercial farming activities.The Diploma is considered for acceptance
by several universities in the United Kingdom as qualification for entry to post
diploma graduate courses.

The minimum qualification
required is five GCE 'O' Level passes or equivalent with credits in English
Language, Mathematics and a Science subject.

The course will begin on
Tuesday, 30 July 2002 and end in June 2004.

Applicants must enclose a
$500,00 administration fee when applying for an application form, which must be
returned before 8 April 2002.

Letters should be addressed
to:THE
DIRECTOR

BLACKFORDBY
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE

P O BOX EH 197

EMERALD
HILL

NP

* * * * * *

Reliable
housemaid wanted – to live on premises. Please phone Cindy on 481080 or Marilynn
on 303995.

#MT

* * * * *
*

Responsible
self-motivated manager required to run comprehensive administration of general
store and filling station. Attractive package, inclusive of farmhouse. Please
reply with C.V. to Box 400 Guruve or email to dende@zol.co.zw.

Please note that there is transport available to
collect and deliver if needed.

NP

* * * * * *

STRESSED OUT

Pam Mullins is offering her services as a stress
management consultant. Please call her on 741498

* * * * * *

ØGENERAL

COMPENSATION FOR FARMS

There is increasing concern amongst a number of
farmers at the lack of feed back from a person or persons who have received
money in order to proceed with claims for land required.

It is proposed to call upon these people to provide
documents, which will reassure that progress is being made. In short
accountability is required. If you are in a position to provide evidence of
accountability or otherwise please email reg@icon.co.zw of fax our legal
representative Kevin Arnott on 756268

NP

* * * * * *

Jewellery - range of gold and silver.Good value!Jewellery made up to your own
design.Engraving.Pearls restrung.Valuations by Sharon Caithness, a
qualified Gemmologist.Shop FC1,
Westgate.Phone
332272

#

* * * * * *

AGENCY REQUIRED should anyone or any company need use
of proficient Harare based marketing set up situated in Bluff Hill Park Harare,
we are actively updating our product/agency range this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DISCLAIMER:Unless
specifically stated that this is a Commercial Farmers' Union communique, or that
it is being issued or forwarded to you by the sender in an official CFU
capacity, the opinions contained therein are private. Private messages
also include those sent on behalf of any organisation not directly affiliated to
the Union. The CFU does not accept any legal responsibility for private
messages and opinions held by the sender and transmitted over its local area
network to other CFU network users and/or to external
addressees.

HARARE, Jan. 22
- World cricket chief Malcolm Speed launched a new securitysurvey for next
month's World Cup matches in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, pledgingto put player
safety first in a country grappling with its worst crisis
indecades. The England and Australia
cricket teams have resisted calls fromtheir governments to boycott matches
in Zimbabwe, where President RobertMugabe faces international criticism of
his policies which opponents sayhave caused deteriorating economic
conditions and civil unrest. Speed,
executive director of the International Cricket Council (ICC),said his
two-day visit to Harare with World Cup chief organiser Ali Bacherwould focus
on Zimbabwe's preparations to guarantee player safety whenmatches begin on
February 9. ''At the end of those
meetings we will prepare a report for the ICCboard. In fact, that will be an
update on the situation in relationship tosafety and security of the
players. We will move from there next week,''Speed
said. Speed declined to be drawn on
speculation that the ICC might movematches out of Zimbabwe should security
be found wanting. Most of the WorldCup matches are being held in South
Africa, the event's main host. ''I don't
want to comment at all about what might happen there,''Speed said. ''I don't
think there are any promises at this stage. It's avery simple visit. We are
just here to get an update from our securityspecialists on what is in
place.''

POLICE TEAM The Zimbabwe
government announced on Wednesday that it hadestablished a special security
committee headed by senior police officers toensure peace during the cricket
tournament. ''This is a measure of how
keen we are that there is peace foreveryone, players and visitors,'' Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri saidon Zimbabwe
television. Speed arrived as Zimbabwe's
main opposition party, the Movement forDemocratic Change (MDC), said police
had arrested an eighth MDC legislatorin what appeared to be a government
effort to snuff out protest ahead of theWorld
Cup. ''It is surprising that the ICC has
decided to proceed with hostingthe World Cup matches in Zimbabwe in the
light of these sad developments,despite a wave of protests around the
world,'' the MDC said in a statement.
Police, who have charged the MDC with planning a campaign of civilunrest
around the World Cup matches, were not immediately available tocomment on
the reported arrests. At least one opposition legislator hascharged that he
was tortured while in police custody.
Police were out in force on Wednesday in response to a nationwidestrike
called to protest Mugabe's policies, but few workers appeared to heedthe
stay-away call. Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe
to independence in 1980, has facedinternational condemnation of his policy
of seizing white-owned farms todistribute to landless blacks -- a programme
which critics say hasexacerbated food shortages now faced by more than half
the country's 14million people. U.S.
Ambassador Joseph Sullivan said on Wednesday his government hadcommitted $20
million to a consortium to assist more than 650,000 needyZimbabweans, saying
Washington was ''extremely concerned'' about thecountry's humanitarian
crisis. Political tensions are also high
after Mugabe's re-election in Marchfollowing accusations of electoral fraud,
with both MDC and other oppositiongroups alleging a campaign of intimidation
aimed at crushing politicaldissent.

THE counter-intelligence unit of
Zimbabwe's premier spy agency, theCentral Intelligence Organisation (CIO),
has launched a probe into analleged plan to ease President Robert Mugabe
from office, involving theinternational community as well as senior ruling
and opposition partyofficials, the Financial Gazette has
established.

Speaker of Parliament
Emmerson Mnangagwa and army chief VitalisZvinavashe, who are alleged to be
part of the so-called "exit plan", havedenied knowledge of it, as have the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) andBritain and South Africa, which were
said to support it.

However, MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai admitted last week that retiredarmy colonel Lionel Dyck
had approached him in December, on behalf of ZANUPF officials, to sound him
out on a strategy that would entail the creationof a transitional government
prior to new presidential and
legislativeelections.

Dyck however
says he met Tsvangirai in his personal capacity and noton behalf of any ZANU
PF officials.

Security sources told the
Financial Gazette that despite governmentand opposition denials of the plan,
the counter-intelligence unit of the CIOhad embarked on a comprehensive
inquiry.

They said the investigation,
which began last week, would probe theorigins of the alleged plan and the
"involvement of foreign forces".

He told the Financial Gazette: "I
don't discuss the operations of myministry with
newspapers."

But sources within the CIO
said the inquiry was a "routine exercise"and would be spearheaded by five
senior operatives who would lead thecounter-intelligence
unit.

A high-ranking security official
said: "We don't dismiss criticalissues at face value. Our job is to protect
the security interests of thecountry, its government and its leadership, and
we are going to get to thebottom of the
matter.

"This is a routine exercise, the
kind of check that we do with anyissue of this nature. We are empowered as a
state security organ to verifyany such allegations that might be raised. If
we hear, for instance,allegations that ministers are involved in taking over
many farms, weundertake our separate checks. This (inquiry) is on the same
lines."

He said the probe would be
complete by the end of this week, afterwhich a report would be submitted to
Goche.

Meanwhile, a member of the ZANU PF
politburo this week said he andfive other members of the ruling party's
supreme decision-making body hadmet over the weekend and resolved to seek
clarification on the alleged exitplan.

He said reports of an alleged deal involving the MDC had renewed
thepresidential succession debate within the party along factional and
triballines.

He said he and his
colleagues had decided to seek further informationat the politburo's monthly
meeting, scheduled for today.

"We
discussed informally and decided to raise the issue at ourpolitburo meeting,
where we would be in a position to get an explanationfrom the party's
security department on what exactly is going on," apolitburo member from
Mashonaland East province told the Financial
Gazette.

Although Mugabe, who was
controversially re-elected last March, hassaid stepping down before the
expiry of his five-year term would besubverting the will of the Zimbabwean
people, analysts say only a governmentsupported by the international
community has a chance of averting economiccollapse in
Zimbabwe.

Western countries have refused
to recognise the Zimbabwean government,saying the March presidential
election was not free and fair, and haveimposed smart sanctions against the
ZANU PF top hierarchy.

Although the
sanctions are not targeted against the country as awhole, Zimbabwe's
isolation from the rest of the world has neverthelesscontributed to the
country's worst economic crisis in 22 years.

UNITED Nations (UN) Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's special envoy JamesMorris will this week separately meet
President Robert Mugabe and oppositionleader Morgan Tsvangirai over
Zimbabwe's fast-deteriorating humanitariancrisis, UN officials said this
week.

Morris, who is executive director of
the World Food Progra-mme (WFP)and Annan's special envoy on the humanitarian
crisis in southern Africa,arrives in Harare today and will also meet
representatives ofnon-governmental organisations
(NGOs).

UN resident coordinator in
Zimbabwe Victor Angelo would not disclosethe agenda of Morris' planned talks
with Mugabe and other governmentofficials, only saying the discussions would
focus on the deepeninghumanitarian
crisis.

He said: "The mission will review
with the government the presentsituation, the challenges ahead and how the
government is preparing itselfto respond to those challenges and how they
want the international communityto come
in."

Diplomatic sources however told the
Financial Gazette that Annan,alarmed by the worsening hunger in southern
Africa but especially inZimbabwe, was sending Morris to impress on Mugabe to
reverse policies thathad hampered the flow of food aid into the
country.

The WFP says in its latest hunger
assessment on Zimbabwe that thenumber of people facing starvation in the
country has increased byhalf-a-million, bringing the provisional total to
7.2 million people.

The government's own
estimates however put the number of Zimbabweansin need of emergency food aid
at around eight million.

Diplomats said
top on the list for Morris, who will be accompanied byAnnan's special envoy
on HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, is a demand thatMugabe scraps the
state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB)'s trade monopoly onmaize and
wheat.

Only the GMB is allowed by law to
buy and sale these staple grains.

Morris
will also press Mugabe to provide humanitarian assistance formore than 300
000 ex-farm workers made jobless and homeless when thegovernment seized
farms from their former white employers.

"Morris will tackle Mugabe on all those issues, the question of whythe
government will not allow private sector players to import maize andalso the
issue of the displaced farm workers," a senior Harare-based foreigndiplomat
said yesterday.

Previous attempts by
Morris and other UN officials to persuade Mugabeto agree to the creation of
a US$85-million fund supported by donors andfrom which private sector
companies could borrow money to import more than400 000 tones of grain have
so far been unsuccessful.

The government
has also barred Tsvangirai's Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) from
distributing nearly 200 tonnes of maize it procured frominternational
well-wishers.

Diplomats said Morris' talks
with Tsvangirai and NGO representativeswere meant to rope in all Zimbabwean
stakeholders to support a coordinatedresponse to the food
crisis.

Morris and Lewis will also meet
the ministries of Finance, Health,Labour and Social Welfare and other
government departments involved in thedistribution of humanitarian
aid.

Several countries in southern Africa
are facing famine because ofsevere drought that affected the region and is
expected to worsen in 2003 ifa developing El Nino affects
rainfall.

The impact of drought has been
compounded in Zimbabwe by agrarianreforms that cut food production by at
least 60 percent last year.

AT least 45 000 victims of political
violence have been left strandedby the closure of Amani Trust, a human
rights non-governmental organisationinvolved in the rehabilitation of people
affected by political violence, itwas learnt this
week.

The organisation, which closed its
doors to the public at the end oflast year after several run-ins with the
government, provided medicalattention, counselling and shelter for
Zimbabweans subjected to anddisplaced by politically motivated
violence.

The government has however
accused Amani Trust of harbouring andpromoting anti-government activists, a
charge the NGO denies.

Although no longer
open to the public, the Financial Gazette was thisweek told that the
organisation was still taking on critical cases. However,it was not possible
this week to talk to Amani Trust directors, whose mobilephones were
unreachable.

But opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) welfare officerBrighton Matimba said: "Our
supporters, who have suffered from ZANU PFbrutality, have been mainly
affected by Amani's closure.

"We estimate
the number of people who have been affected by Amani'sclosure ranges between
45 000 to 50 000. This number includes grandmotherscaring for young orphans,
medical and psychological patients and thosepeople who have been displaced
from their rural homes."

According to NGO
surveys, MDC supporters have been hardest hit by thepolitical violence that
has plagued Zimbabwe in the past three
years.

Matimba said about 160 000 MDC
supporters had been assisted by AmaniTrust since 2000, the year of
Zimbabwe's landmark parliamentary elections,during which political violence
escalated.

Surveys show that Zimbabweans
with no political affiliation havehowever also been affected by the
violence. Victims interviewed by NGOs saythey have either been assaulted,
intimidated or had their homes or propertydestroyed because they are
perceived to be supporters of the MDC.

The
resulting fears for personal security have also forced non-MDCsupporters
from their homes, especially in the rural
areas.

One such victim of violence, Noriah
Mabuke, who was displaced fromChikomba after ZANU PF-aligned war veterans
burnt down her homestead lastyear, this week told the Financial Gazette the
closure of Amani Trust hadagain left her
homeless.

She said the two grandchildren
she brought with her when she fled toHarare were now suffering from
kwashiorkor because of food shortages, whichhave compounded the crisis faced
by internally displaced victims ofpolitical
violence.

"Amani took care of us when we
came to Harare last year," Mabuke said."They provided us with shelter, paid
my medical bills and also bought foodfor my
grandchildren.

"Since they closed, I have
been left with nowhere to go and I amhoping the party will be able to help
me," added the 58-year-oldgrandmother, who was waiting outside the MDC
headquarters in Harare.

The opposition
party is however overwhelmed by the large number ofpeople who have descended
on its offices since the closure of Amani Trustand is fighting a losing
battle because of meagre resources to assist peopleappealing for
help.

Matimba said in the past, the MDC
referred victims to Amani Trust,which would carry out a thorough vetting
exercise before providingassistance, a task now left to the opposition
party's welfare office.

He said: "People
needing assistance have been coming to our offices ona daily basis and we
are battling to help all of them because of
limitedresources.

"Some have managed
to go back to their homes but the majority cannotdo so because of their
political history. Most of these people are now justloitering around as they
have nowhere to go."

He said several
children whose school fees were being paid by AmaniTrust were unable to
return to school when the new term began last
week.

"A number of kids whose school fees
were being paid by Amani have beenleft stranded as well," he said. "Their
families have no source of incomeand they solely relied on Amani. The
situation is not good at all."

BULAWAYO - Three war
veterans have been arrested after allegedlyheckling Vice President Joseph
Msika and other high-ranking ZANU PFofficials as they emerged from a
closed-door meeting held here at theweekend, it was learnt this
week.

Ruling party insiders said the trio
was among about 500 ZANU PFsupporters gathered on Sunday outside the party's
Bulawayo provincialoffice, where Msika met with officials including former
home affairsminister Dumiso Dabengwa, ZANU PF secretary for the commissariat
ElliotManyika and his deputy Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu.

The sources said the meeting was
called to discuss internal squabblesin the party's Bulawayo provincial
executive.

Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, ZANU PF's
secretary for information and publicityin Bulawayo, would not discuss the
Sunday arrests.

"Ask the police, they know
everything. There is nothing I can tellyou," he said before switching off
his mobile phone.

Bulawayo police
spokesman Smile Dube confirmed that the three warveterans were arrested,
saying they were subsequently charged withcontravening sections of the
Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

He
told the Financial Gazette: "I can confirm that three people werearrested
and have since appeared in court. They are charged under POSA. Idon't have
their names off hand, but it is true that they were
arrested."

Dube was however unable to
indicate which sections of thecontroversial legislation the three had
contravened.

Officials at the Bulawayo
ZANU PF office said the war veterans weregranted bail on Tuesday after
appearing briefly before a magistrate.

ZANU PF insiders said Sunday's incident followed a meeting held todiscuss
internal squabbles and the alleged involvement of provincialpoliticians in
the illegal distribution of grain and in the sale toretailers of mealie
meal, Zimbabwe's staple foodstuff.

The
state-controlled Grain Marketing Board is Zimbabwe's sole traderin maize and
wheat, which are in short supply because of drought and agovernment land
reform programme that has slashed food production by over
60percent.

Ruling party insiders said
war veterans picketed the ZANU PF Bulawayooffice last Sunday in support of
the party's Bulawayo chairman JabulaniSibanda, who they said some officials
wanted to oust from his position.

Sibanda,
who was not available for comment yesterday, is said to haveunearthed
underhand deals involving unnamed ZANU PF officials in thedistribution of
grain and mealie meal.

A ruling party
official said: "Some of these people were carryingplacards denouncing the
Vice President (Msika), Dumiso Dabengwa and othersenior officials for
allegedly trying to stifle Jabulani
Sibanda.

He said some of the placards
read: "Down with Msika and Down withDabengwa, Long Live
Sibanda."

Sibanda, who is also chairman of
the war veterans in Bulawayo, isaccused of masterminding a violent
demonstration outside the GMB's depot inthe city in the first week of this
month.

The war veteran, a former personal
bodyguard of the late vicepresident Joshua Nkomo, denies the
charges.

ZANU PF officials said the party
was expected to hold another meetingtomorrow to discuss problems in the
provincial executive.

BULAWAYO-
Matabeleland South has lost up to $2 billion worth of cattlein the past six
months because of severe stock feed and pasture shortagesthat threaten the
region's entire communal and commercial herd, it waslearnt this
week.

Cattle producers said about 20 000
head of cattle worth between $1.5billion and $2 billion had been lost over
half a year in the provincebecause of drought and a stock feed
crisis.

Livestock Producers' Association
chairman Paul d'Htoman told theFinancial Gazette: "The situation is critical
in Matabeleland South, Gwandaarea to Beitbridge. We estimate that between
$1.5 billion and $2 billion incattle has been lost
there."

"It might not be the actual
figure, but these are the indications,"
headded.

Cattle producers said it was
only a matter of time before otherZimbabwean areas, especially the Lowveld
and Midlands, began to record largenumbers of deaths in their herds because
of dry conditions, which havereduced available
pasture.

They said the shortage of stock
feed, blamed on the decline inagricultural output caused by drought and the
government's chaotic landreform programme, had affected not only cattle but
farmers rearing pigs,poultry, dairy cows and
ostriches.

Farmers said some livestock was
going for days without food.

An official
with the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said producershad begun
slaughtering dairy cows and beef cattle in large numbers, in a bidto reduce
the losses they would incur because of
drought.

Veterinary Services Department
director Stuart Hargreaves said: "Atthe moment, our reports show that about
20 000 cattle have succumbed to thedrought in Matabeleland South alone in
the past six months.

"The figure is likely
to increase as the dry spells continues insouthern Zimbabwe. Cattle deaths
are very severe in Beitbridge and mostparts of Gwanda. It is a major problem
and has been compounded by theshortage of stock feed. It is impacting on the
diary, pig and poultryindustries as well and on
ostriches."

He added: "It is not possible
for farmers to offer supplementaryfeeding and cattle fattening because there
is no food. Because of this,cattle in most parts of the country are in a
poor state. This, in the longrun, will affect conception rates. We are
likely to have less calvesproduced next
season."

Cattle producers said a decline
in calf production would further slashthe commercial herd in Matabeleland
South, which had fallen to about 150 000from close to two million two years
ago.

In a report issued last week, CFU
president Colin Cloete said thesituation in Matabeleland would be compounded
by lack of assistance fromareas like Mashonaland, which in the past have
supported the province intimes of
drought.

Cattle producers in Mashonaland
have also been hard hit by drought andthe land reform programme, which has
forced many of them to cut back onproduction or to cease farming and vacate
their properties.

"The grazing for cattle
and game in the south of the country andMatabeleland remains extremely
serious, without the hope of relief fromMashonaland hay or stova later in
the year," Cloete said.

Hargreaves added:
"The shortage of stock feed is a national problem.It might increase the
number of deaths as the year goes on. There will bedisaster if the situation
does not improve. As for southern Zimbabwe, thesituation gets grimmer
everyday.

"Pigs don't eat grass. You can't
let them wonder for pasture. Theyneed special feed and this is not possible
to obtain. These might also startdying in large
numbers."

POLOKWANE,
South Africa - South Africa's R600 million per year beefindustry has been
exposed to the dangerous foot and mouth epidemic inZimbabwe by a syndicate
of corrupt senior veterinary officials.

The officials, all responsible for safeguarding South Africa's
bordersagainst recent disease outbreaks in Botswana, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique,allegedly smuggled stolen cattle into South Africa across
Limpopo's 'wildwest' border at Masisi.

Three of the alleged ringleaders, three agriculture departmentmanagers
Nthambeleni Tshikororo, Pandelani Neluvhalani and Tuwani Mugwedi,have been
suspended and arrested on international cattle rustling
charges.

An accomplice, 62-year-old
villager Andries Tshukuvani, has also beenarrested for actually stealing the
cattle during raids into Zimbabwe.

"This
is a disease hot spot, called a red line area, and these guyswere supposed
to be protecting South Africa against any infection that woulddamage our
beef industry. But, instead, they appear to have abused theirpositions and
used their knowledge to smuggle stolen cattle into the countrywithout any
regard for the possible consequences," said Far North stocktheft unit
commander Captain Alfred Chiloane.

"There
is also evidence indicating that these people might be part ofa larger
syndicate."

"We take the allegations very seriously and, if proven true, we'llregard
this as treachery," said Seloba.

Tshukuvani appeared in the Masisi magistrate's court last week inconnection
with stock theft and was released on R2 000
bail.

Tshikororo, who was found with two
branded cows and calves fromZimbabwe, was refused bail and will appear in
the same court on February 11.

Neluvhalani
and Mugwedi were released on free bail and their casepostponed to January
28.

Police suspect that other members of
the alleged syndicate areZimbabwean nationals who have relatives in Sigonde
and Gumbu villages nearthe Limpopo
River.

"The fence on the border has been
down for quite a long time becauseof floods and thieves are driving the
cattle through the gaps,"
Chiloanesaid.

The charges are not
Tshikororo's first brush with notoriety.

He was briefly suspended in October last year after small-scalefarmers
complained that he was lazy and drinking on
duty.

Farmers alleged that Tshikororo
arrived drunk or late to dip orvaccinate livestock, and failed to inspect
animals before they wereslaughtered.

Tshikororo's suspension was applauded by South Africa's meat industry,which
claimed that he had put the R600 million per year industry at risk
byundermining safeguards demanded by major export markets such as the
EuropeanUnion.

Tshikororo's suspension
was lifted in November, however, after farmersrefused to testify against him
for fear of victimisation. The defiantofficial was then transferred to work
in the agriculture department'sTshiombo
office.

Mugwedi was, ironically, appointed
to replace Tshikororo and tightensafety
procedures.

The provincial department of
agriculture's acting head, HendrikMasikwa, said the department is
considering internal disciplinary chargesagainst all three officials.
-African Eye News Service

ALL right-thinking Zimbabweans
must be dismayed by the ZimbabweRepublic Police (ZRP)'s deafening silence
about what, if anything, it isdoing about allegations of systematic
poisoning and torture of oppositionparty members in police
custody.

The ZRP was this week quick to
rubbish claims by the Movement forDemocratic Change (MDC) that while in the
hands of the police, several ofits officials and supporters have been forced
to drink liquid that could bepoison.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena dismissed as "not worth commentingon"
allegations that as far back as last year, at least two MDC supportershave
died after imbibing the suspected poison.

In line with the Police Service Charter, about which most Zimbabweansare
already sceptical, the ZRP clearly has a duty to not onlycomprehensively
address these very serious allegations but to also takedecisive steps to get
to the bottom of these charges.

In its
charter, the ZRP has pledged to maintain transparency andaccountability in
its operations and it is only these self-imposedprinciples that Zimbabweans
require the police to live up to.

In line
with its own pledge, the ZRP must investigate and explain theconcoction
allegedly forced on opposition party members and believed to beresponsible
for subsequent illnesses and deaths.

It
must investigate and explain the medically documented injuriessustained by
MDC legislator Job Sikhala as well as Human Rights NGO Forumlawyer Gabriel
Shumba after their arrest last week.

These
are only a few of the cases the police have been inexplicablysilent
about.

Another is the arrest in Kuwadzana
last Tuesday of officials of theCombined Harare Residents' Association after
they were abducted and brutallyassaulted by suspected members of the ruling
ZANU PF youth militia.

It is baffling that
the police would choose to detain overnight thevictims and not the
perpetrators of such a crime and, as if that were notbad enough, make no
effort to procure medical attention for
them.

If rogue elements within the police
force are responsible for suchunprofessional acts, then it is in the best
interests of the ZRP todecisively and vigorously ferret them out through an
independent andobjective
investigation.

It is also in the interests
of thousands of voiceless Zimbabweans whomight in future fall victim to
these brutal elements and have no recourseagainst
them.

However, such a probe must not go
the way of similar exercisesundertaken in the
past.

Four years after a High Court judge
ordered the police to investigatethe alleged torture in custody of two
journalists, no report has been issuedand no arrests have been
made.

Such a casual attitude to these very
serious human rights issuesserves neither the police nor the country as a
whole.

Zimbabwe continues to be denied
crucial foreign investment and donorsupport partly because of its image as a
nation where the rule of law hasbeen severely
eroded.

The police's failure to protect
the rights of Zimbabweans who passthrough their hands, be they opposition
party members or ordinary people,can only further entrench Zimbabwe's status
as a pariah state to be avoidedat all
costs.

Indeed, unless the ZRP commits
itself to serving and protecting thepublic without bias, it risks a serious
backlash from a population whosepatience has already been worn thin by
hunger and worsening poverty.

THE Zimbabwean government has not paid
most of its diplomatic stafffor the past four months and is slashing
staffing levels at its embassiesaround the world to reduce its foreign wage
bill, the Financial Gazette
hasestablished.

Diplomats this week
said the payment of salaries at diplomaticmissions had been erratic since
last September because of Zimbabwe's severeforeign currency shortages, which
have forced the government to spend mostof it meagre hard cash inflows on
crucial imports of food, electricity
andfuel.

The diplomats said most of
their colleagues were finding it difficultto meet personal expenses and some
of their spouses had been forced to takeon paid part-time work, violating
diplomatic regulations.

Spouses of
diplomats posted overseas are not allowed to work in paidemployment because
their living expenses are covered by a monthly stipendprovided by the
state.

"We have not been paid since
September and we are actually receivingpart of the salaries and allowances
for last year now in January," aZimbabwean diplomat based in a European
Union (EU) member country told theFinancial
Gazette.

The permanent secretary in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, WillardChiwewe, confirmed that the government
was facing difficulty in payingdiplomats and had accrued salary
arrears.

He said: "We have had hiccups and
difficulties like everyone elsenationally in finding foreign currency to pay
our diplomats abroad, and assuch, we have been late in paying
them.

"I am glad however to say we have
been able to reduce the period ofarrears," Chiwewe added, without disclosing
how long the government had beenin
arrears.

Official sources said in a bid to
reduce its foreign wage bill, thegovernment was recalling some diplomatic
officers from its 38 missionsabroad.

They said some of the officers would be re-deployed within theMinistry of
Foreign Affairs in Harare.

The diplomatic
staff members affected do not have specific dutiesassigned to them and some
have opted to retire from active service, thesources
said.

They said new foreign postings had
been frozen while staff atnon-critical missions was being re-deployed to
countries deemed to be ofhigh
priority.

Government officials said the
review of operations and staffing levelsat foreign missions had partly been
prompted by the smart sanctions imposedagainst President Robert Mugabe and
his top officials last year.

Several
countries, including Australia, Canada, EU member states, NewZealand and the
United States of America, slapped a travel ban and financialsanctions
against Zimbabwean government officials in protest against whatthey say was
a flawed presidential election in March
2002.

Government sources said the
sanctions had left Zimbabwe's ambassadorsin foreign missions
isolated.

The government's failure to pay
diplomats on time is only one of themanifestations of the country's hard
cash squeeze, which has hamperedimports of food, electricity and liquid
fuel.

Local companies have also been hard
hit by the forex crisis, which hasleft them unable to import the raw
materials, spare parts and machinerynecessary for them to remain
viable.

Among those hardest hit are
manufacturers, most of whose equipment isimported, and transport operators,
many of whom have been forced to groundtheir vehicles because of the
unavailability of spare parts.

This has
combined with shortages of fuel to create a severe publictransport crisis
that is affecting workers and their employers.

TWO weeks ago
we proffered five options for unblocking the blockedtransition to democracy
in Zimbabwe. We argued that maintaining the statusquo was leading nowhere
but to further deterioration, ultimately leading tocivil unrest and chaos,
and therefore to common ruin.

We argued
against a military option since other democratic optionsexisted, namely a
re-run of the controversial March 2002 presidentialelection and bringing
forward the next presidential election scheduled for2008 to occur
concurrently with parliamentary elections scheduled for 2005,three years
away.

Another democratic option of
unblocking Zimba-bwe's blocked transitionto democracy was "removing the
stumbling block" to a peaceful transition.

We inferred that our 79-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has beenin
office for 23 years, was blocking the smooth transition; that he
hadintractably dug in his heels to the extent that ZANU PF would only
beflexible with a new leader; that this option was still open for ZANU
PF.

We had passionately argued in favour
of option (3), bringing forwardthe presidential election to occur
concurrently with parliamentary electionsin 2005, two years away, for
basically two reasons:

a..
First, six years from March 2002 to 2008 was too long a time forthe status
quo to continue. By then the country would have bled to death inevery sense
of the word.

a.. The second
reason was a practical and logistical one. Animmediate election re-run would
be too hurried for a country so badlytraumatised by intimidation and
electoral violence, particularly for thepast three years, especially so in
the rural communities where about 60percent of Zimbabwe's people still
live. Three years would be the optimal time
required to level up theelectoral playing field by doing the
following:

a.. Dismantle
paramilitary structures, especially the war vets andyouth militia (green
bombers); b.. De-politicise formal
structures of state coercion, especiallythe army, the police and the Central
Intelligence Organisation; c..
De-politicise state institutions of good governance, especiallythe
judiciary, the civil service and the public
media; d.. Repeal draconian
legislation, especially the Public Order andSecurity Act and the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Actthat are an affront on civil
liberties and human rights of the citizen; and,above
all e.. Coming up with a new
democratic constitution that provides foran electoral law that enshrines an
independent election commission to runall elections - local, parliamentary,
presidential and by-elections thereof. Once
beaten, twice shy. We should be suspicious of anything with anelement of
"fast-track" in it. The democratic process should not be"fast-tracked" to
the extent of arriving at the Second Republic without ademocratic
constitution hoping that the incumbents would legislate
it.

I strongly believe the right or
propitious moment to come up with ademocratic and wise constitution is now,
before the next parliamentary andpresidential elections. We have a balanced
parliamentary representation tocome up with a balanced constitution.
Moreover, the three years oftransition to democracy is therapeutic for our
parliamentarians on bothsides of the aisle. They learn or begin to learn to
legislate on behalf ofthe people, not on behalf of a
party.

Accordingly, civil society has a
"job of work" to do. We have toconvince the political society that levelling
the electoral playing fieldand a new constitution take precedence in
unblocking Zimbabwe's transitionto democracy. The Second Republic should
implement a new constitution, andnot make
it.

We discussed the critical question
whether the country can afford tobleed even for another three more months.
We argued that the bleeding couldstop almost immediately after the
re-demo-cratisation process outlined
abovebegins.

Frankly, it is as simple
as that. If yesterday the core of theZimbabwe crisis lay in the land
question, today governance is at the core ofthe
crisis.

We continue to offend our people
and the international community bythe way we govern, which is out of step
with international norms of humanrights and civil liberties. And we cheat
ourselves to believe we can winagainst the world on this
one.

Most reactions on the five or six
options I proffered two weeks agopreferred a synthesis of option (3) and
(4), arguing that for option (3) -bringing forward the presidential
elections - to succeed, Mugabe must stepdown or retire immediately so that
somebody in his party committed tounblocking the blocked transition to
democracy in Zimbabwe would lead
thetransition.

"The very persuasive
argument you gave, Professor, why option (3) isthe best, fails because you
trust Mugabe to be in charge of the unblockingprocess. This cannot be," said
one caller who didn't mind being quoted byname, if need
be.

"Mugabe is not repentant. He is not
like these 'born-again'Christians. He is Catholic, and a Jesuit Catholic for
that matter," he wenton to say, talking from his knowledge of both the man
and the Bible.

"But James, the man who put
Christianity on the map to be the religionthat it is now, was Saul of Tarsus
(St Paul) who used to persecuteChristians for the Roman empire for political
ends," I observed, not wantingto appear unknowledgeable about both the man
and the "good book".

"But there are no
'born-again' Christians in Catholicism and Mugabe isa Catholic," insisted
James.

"And so was Martin Luther the
father of Protestantism? He was aCatholic before he converted to
Protestantism," I said from my wealth ofknowledge about the history of
Christianity.

But James, who knew the same
Christian history I was telling himabout, insisted that it took years for
Martin Luther to differ with theCatholic interpretation of scriptures before
his arguments were finallyconsolidated into the "10 theses" which he pinned
on the walls of theCatholic church.

That, Mugabe has not even begun considering re-democratisation. Thatis the
least on his mind.

"In fact," said James,
"Mugabe does not even think that Zimbabwe'stransition to democracy was
blocked last March. He is thinking about how tomaintain power until 2008 and
yonder. The man cannot be a 'born-again'; hewill remain with his ideas up to
the grave."

Then I read that the President
had scoffed at speculation of an exitplan, probably exile to Malaysia, with
the imperialist Press quoting him assaying: "I will never ever go into
exile. I fought for Zimbabwe . . . Justyesterday, the people elected me to
serve for six years. I can't betray themand resign when my term has just
only begun."

While this might add credence
to James' non-repentant thesis, to mekutaura kwavakuru, it's the way elders
talk.

Moreover, and more importantly, the
matter might no longer dependsimply on Mugabe's perception of himself and
his contribution to theliberation of this
country.

Economic, social and political
decay were the fundamental causes ofthe French Revolution, and revolutions
in general. But the immediate causeof the French Revolution was simply the
fact that le citoyens (the citizens)started talking about
it.

I believe civil unrest can be avoided
by our leaders actingresponsibly in the days that lie ahead and the greatest
responsibility lieson the shoulders of Mugabe because he is the
President.

And to fellow Zimbabweans, we
have an even larger responsibility inthis whole issue. Assume James' thesis
is proven wrong. What do we do?

Do we
encourage the President to seek asylum elsewhere or do weencourage him to
stay home? For, we did love him once. What cause have wenow to delight in
the fact we can't keep our own, right or
wrong?

The way discussed in option (3) is
going to determine whether we havecome of age for the experiences of the
past.

I heard something that James
probably didn't hear when the Presidentsaid: "I fought for this country, why
should I go into exile?" Kutaurakwavakuru. It's the way elders talk. Indeed,
why should he go into exile?

a.. Professor Masipula Sithole is a lecturer of political science atthe
University of Zimbabwe and director of the Harare-based Mass PublicOpinion
Institute.

THE tragedy of being
victims of a dictatorship is that sometimesdesperation dictates one's
thinking. This is the tragedy that Zimbabweansfind themselves in
today.

Because we are ruled through
dictatorship, we have lost hope to anextent where we have become restless
and our thinking and imaginationsometimes are defying
logic.

The manifestation of this loss of
hope has seen some in the democraticstruggle losing focus and serious
thinking as far as the crisis is concernedby blaming the opposition for not
doing anything. I argue that PresidentRobert Mugabe's chief nemesis will be
hunger and his stubbornness.

Those who are
expecting Movement for Democratic Change leader MorganTsvangirai to walk the
streets of Harare shouting instructions for people tostand up and fight for
their rights are expecting too much from anopposition leader. The crisis
that we are facing, in my opinion, goes beyondTsvangirai and the MDC and it
will only take the people of Zimbabwe standingup to reclaim their
freedom.

My argument is not that the
opposition should not lose sleep over thecrisis. It should organise and
coalesce with civic society to find a lastingsolution to the
crisis.

The opposition must do so but do
this in a way that is not going togive Mugabe and his coercive apparatus a
reason to settle scores with thepeople of Zimbabwe, particularly those who
are in urban areas.

It is quite evident
that Mugabe is angry with his own people for thesimple reason that they do
not want him in power anymore.

I have
listened with a bleeding heart to many desperate voices callingfor a violent
overthrow of the Mugabe regime and I shudder to think what theconsequences
of such an attempt will be. Those of us who have tried to givewise counsel
on the dangers of letting desperation and emotion dictate ouractions have
been dismissed as cowards.

Yes we are in
an economic and governance crisis, but does that callfor suspension of
reason and putting the lives of millions of Zimbabweans atthe mercy of a
raging dictator whose arms of force are clearly itching for amoment to
pounce?

As hunger and starvation stalk
Zimbabweans, there is no doubt thatMugabe and his ZANU PF henchmen are
realising that land reform is differentfrom parceling out land to party
supporters and sympathisers.

There are
unprecedented food shortages and each day Zimbabweans arebecoming
increasingly restless. But Mugabe is too stubborn to admit
failure.

History tells us that he has
never admitted failure anyway. He hastold us that he has "stomach pains over
the fuel crisis" but never admittedthat he is at the core of the
crisis.

Even for the Matebeleland madness
which resulted in the murder ofthousands, Mugabe has only offered a thinly
veiled admission of guilt bysaying "...that was regrettable." He never said
he was sorry about it.Stubbornness.

Those that have the expertise to predict weather have already warnedthat
another drought looms in the 2002/2003 agricultural season. But Mugabeand
his ruling regime keep shouting "Chave chimurenga" as if they have noeyes to
see that the only "chimurenga" Zimbabweans are fighting is hungerand
starvation.

ZANU PF wants the world to
believe that why there is no food in thecountry is because of a drought. The
truth is that we are hungry because oftheir chaotic land grab exercise and
the voodoo macro-economic policies thatthey are
pursuing.

We have gone through worse
droughts before but we have never witnessedthis level of starvation. It is
because then we had a very vibrantcommercial farming
sector.

It is saddening to note that
around the whole country there is nothingthat is seriously going on in the
farms that Mugabe gave to his supportersand friends. Even if we were to have
a normal rain season there would stillbe food shortages in this
country.

I have seen a farm in the Mount
Hampden area that was once a marvel tolook at because the commercial farmer
who was running it was veryproductive. Only in a space of a couple of months
the farm has beentransformed into a bush of weeds, thanks to the "new
farmer". And stillMugabe and his henchmen cannot swallow the pride and admit
that the processhas been a failure.

What has become clear is that starvation is going to be the last nailon
Mugabe's coffin. Zimbabweans have asked Mugabe to respect their will andjust
step down but he has dismissed them as
malcontents.

The international community
has made concerted efforts to make Mugaberealise that he is a stumbling
block to the country's transition todemocratic governance and economic
development but he has not listened
tothem.

Even Mugabe's friends in the
region like South Africa's Thabo Mbekiand Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo have
tried to make Mugabe seriouslyrecognise the legitimacy of the opposition and
to sit down with them andtalk about the country's crisis but his love for
power has made him rebuffsuch efforts.

Mugabe will soon realise that he can run but he cannot hide becausethe tide
of a hungry and restive nation is sure to sweep him out of
power.

The sooner he realises that
starvation knows no dictatorship thebetter. With a hungry and angry nation
there will not be any Tony Blair toblame for the crisis. A starving people
will not listen to any of the "wewent to war" bunch of
baloney.

What the people will simply
demand is for those that are responsiblefor the mess to go. With a hungry
and angry nation there will not be anyPOSA or AIPPA to subvert the will of
the people. Even those professors thatare gifted with the art of lying and
deceit will not have anyone to lie to.

There will not be any ZBC to churn out propaganda because no one willbe
watching television or listening to the nauseating "chave chimurenga"adverts
on the radio. That will be the height of the tragedy of a stubborndictator
and a hungry and angry nation.

Charles
Mangongera is a researcher with the Mass Public OpinionInstitute, a
Harare-based research organisation. He can be reached onmangongera@yahoo.com

AN air of uncertainty hung
ominously over Zimbabwe as the curtain fellon the year
2002.

The year was characterised by an
unprecedented political crisis thatwas accentuated by a seriously flawed
presidential election, a rapidlyshrinking economy and a looming famine. The
same dark clouds, spiced withhigh political drama and intrigue, ominously
ushered in the new year.

Zimbabwe
experienced two solar eclipses within a space of 18 months,one in the
northeast of the country and one in the southwest. This rareoccurrence is
pregnant with meaning. Pessimists are already reaching fortheir Bibles and
declaring that Armageddon beckons.

Traditionally, national leaders are likened to the sun. Indeed, in
thetraditions of old Egypt, the pharaoh was regarded as the
divinemanifestation of the sun god Ra.

Even the King James version of the Bible refers to the king as
"theappearance of Your Majesty, as the Sun in his strength". Darkening of
thesun was thus regarded as a bad
omen.

But why two eclipses in
Zimbabwe?

It could mean that two eras are
about to come to an end. The firsttotal eclipse in June 2001 was a sign of
the waning influence of those thatheld sway during the Rhodesian
period.

The illegal and often violent
commercial farm invasions spelt the endof the white commercial farming
sector that had largely been the backbone ofthe illegal Rhodesian
regime.

Some seers have interpreted the
second eclipse of December 2002 tomean that the post-independence era headed
by President Robert Mugabe isalso about to come to a
close.

This interpretation was given wider
currency by the unprecedenteddismissal of former football boss, Leo Mugabe,
after an inordinately longperiod in office. This developed into a frenzy
last week with the news ofthe alleged "exit plan" for
Mugabe.

Let us examine the current storm
surrounding the President's allegedexit
plan.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
burst onto the front page of theDaily News on December 19 2002, soon after
the eclipse, claiming that anunholy trilogy of South Africa, Britain and the
ruling party had agreed onZimbabwe's future behind our backs. We were not
given details of thesetalks.

It
appears that they may have been some exploratory discussions inSouth Africa
where a number of scenarios on Zimbabwe's future
werediscussed.

The host could have
been a private think-tank that we may refer to asthe "Southern African
Institute for International Affairs". We are made toassume that ambassadors
of the British government may have been present,along with representatives
of the South African government.

In
addition, it would be logical for interested local businessmen ortheir
representatives, to attend such a meeting.

In this theoretical scenario, we may refer to these businessmen
as"Wekwamaphosa" of South Africa and the "Remiehneppo" family that
hasextensive mining and agricultural interests in Zimbabwe, in particular
inthe fictitious "Guruuswa" and central provinces of
Zimbabwe.

We are not given a clue as to
the identity of the ZANU PFrepresentative and/or government official at the
meeting. However, we areled by Tsvangirai's statement to believe that
retired Lt Col Lionel Dyke wasprivy to such a
meeting.

It was further alleged that Dyke
had been sent by a politico-militarygroup in ZANU PF to seek the MDC's
endorsement of a plan to ease thePresident out of
office.

Surprisingly, discussion
surrounding this earth-shattering revelationonly entered the public domain
in January 2003, when the state President wason leave in the Far East.
Thereafter, local and international media addedmore spin to the story until
it sounded as if a palace coup was in
themaking!

Many are still baffled by
the blistering public criticism of SouthAfrica and Britain by the MDC leader
and the throwing into the public domainDyke's embryonic
mission.

Was this to divert attention from
the impending treason trial as somesuggested, or was this an attempt to
cause serious divisions in ZANUPF/government
ranks?

Either way, this could backfire.
The MDC's image was also damaged bythe different messages given by three of
its senior officials.

More alarming was
the ruling party and government propagandist'sreference to Rhodesian
soldiers, "coup plotters" and "electoral cowards" whowould soon be
exposed.

People began to conclude that
there was "no smoke without fire".

Speculation was rife that Dyke was also in contact with the British.The
Independent even hinted that British foreign secretary's conciliatoryremarks
on Zimbabwe towards the end of last year were a signal to elementsin
Zimbabwe that Britain would welcome a local
solution.

Our foreign affairs permanent
secretary also came up with a responsein the stage-managed Herald interview
that the problems between Zimbabwe andBritain were essentially a personality
clash that could easily be overcomefor the good of the two sister countries
that shared strong historical,cultural, linguistic and economic
ties.

Extreme hypocrisy surrounds the
official denunciation of any potentialmilitary coup. Have many of us not
warned before of the dangers ofmilitarising state
institutions?

Military figures are
prominent in the intelligence service, prisonservice, national parks, fuel
and food procurement and distribution and evenin the management of
elections!

Further, exactly a year ago,
after the military's January 9 2002"presidential straight jacket" statement,
the state media was awash withvoluminous defence of that sad
development.

Because this was perceived to
mean that the military was opposed tothe MDC presidential candidate, there
was open celebration from manypro-status quo
quarters.

Were they not aware that the
military could also one day be used inthe mother of all battles for
succession within the ruling party? Indeed,when rumours of the alleged "exit
plan" surfaced, many people wanted tocelebrate! The chickens have come home
to roost.

The million-dollar question
remained, was the state president aware ofthe alleged "exit plan"? If he was
not, then we should expect fireworks!

What
if he was aware? The assumption is that the plan's road mapincluded a number
of steps lasting even a full year. The first would havebeen to sell the plan
at the ZANU PF December conference.

This
would have then resulted in the possible retirement of one orboth of that
party's second secretaries to make way for the allegedlypreferred "crown
prince". This would then be followed by a Cabinet reshufflethat would see
the elevation of the "crown prince" to the post of state
vicepresident.

Thereafter, with good
progress on the talks with the opposition, aconstitutional amendment to
allow the vice president to act as president formore than 90 days. This
transitional arrangement would end with a newconstitution and new joint
parliamentary and presidential elections in
2005.

If the President is not in favour of
the alleged "crown prince", whythen did he facilitate his appointment to
speaker of Parliament, which makeshim fourth in state protocol, and de facto
secretary-general of the rulingparty?

We are therefore left to surmise that another factor could be atplay - the
proposed "rainbow alliance" in ZANU PF alluded to by yourAssistant Editor
Sydney Masamvu in his installment last
week.

This may explain ruling party
Politburo member and information chief'spre-emptive statement categorically
declaring that there would be noleadership changes at the December
conference and that posts would only beup for grabs at the 2005
congress.

Further, because of the alleged
military backing of the "exit plan"camp, Masamvu alludes to the possible
drafting of former military supremo,retired General Solomon Mujuru, into the
"rainbow" camp.

Understandably, there are
also those in the government from thesouthwest in particular who fear that
any accommodation involving theopposition would result in them being
discarded into the political dust bin.This happened when the late Joshua
Nkomo's PF ZAPU merged with ZANU PF.

So
the "rainbow" camp could be behind the repackaging of the "exitplan" in the
Sunday Mirror as a trial balloon that was destined to be shotdown
decisively.

Further, the President was
then challenged in public: "How can youleave us your loyalists after we just
voted you into office for six years?"This is accompanied by subtle threats
of leaving the "Uhuru project" to forma formidable Kenya-style "rainbow
alliance" with the opposition.

The
President dutifully responds that he will "never ever" go! Bravo!In a sense
too, by shooting down the alleged "exit plan", the "rainbow" campwas sending
a message to the British, South Africans, the MDC and othersthat "you are
dealing with the wrong camp. If you want a deal, come to
us!"

So what will the President do to the
alleged "crown prince" after thisdebacle? My guess is nothing really, for
now.

However, there may be an attempt to
purge alleged pro-"crown prince"officials in the government, including in
the critical diplomatic postingsof London and
Washington.

What will happen to the
military man? I guess also nothing really, fornow. It would be too
destabilising to do otherwise.

What will
happen to future talks with the MDC? These are likely to beshelved for
now.

Divisive attempts are likely to be
made to bypass the MDC leader infuture
negotiations.

The official government line
will be what the military man said -Mugabe will serve his full
term.

However, we wait to see whether the
suggestion to appoint a crisiscommittee will be taken. Probably not. In
effect, Zimbabwe will continue itsrelentless path to
decay.

The Zimbabwean crisis is largely
one of governance. To a large extent,this country has been governed through
Machiavellian principles.

In his treatise,
the prince, Italian political philosopher Machiavelli(1469-1527), suggests:
".in the actions of all men, and most of all ofprinces, where there is no
tribunal to which to appeal, we look to results..if a prince succeeds.the
means will always be judged honourable and beapproved by everyone." Does
this explain Zimbabwe's land policy?

However, it is not widely known that Machiavelli wrote several
othertreatises. In Discourses, he argues that democratic republics are far
betterthan benevolent princedoms.

He
argues that ". . . people are more prudent and stable, and havebetter
judgment than a prince . . . The voice of the people is the voice ofGod . .
. cities where the people are masters make the greatest progress inthe least
possible time . . ."

However, he argues
that a republic is only possible where there is acritical mass of citizens
with virtue. It is evident from the way theZimbabwe crisis is being handled
by many local and foreign actors thatZimbabwe is regarded as a fiefdom that
requires a strong but benevolentprince. This is
wrong.

When the rule of law breaks down,
Machiavelli warns in Discourses that". . . a prince who knows no other
control but his own will is like a madman. . ." Zimbabwe's destiny cannot be
left to the whims and caprices of a
fewindividuals.

Back to the eclipse.
It's not all gloom and doom. The second southerneclipse could mean that
Zimbabwe's new leader would emerge from the
south.

The two eclipses were 18 months
apart. This could mean that profoundpositive changes would take place in
Zimbabwe within 18 months, around June2004. It will be a long
struggle.

The major political parties must
continue to engage each other.However, better emissaries need to be
identified.

Our foreign friends must also
be brought on board; there is no needfor either the MDC or the government
propagandist to spew venom at them.

Finally and more importantly, since we have pretensions to become atruly
democratic republic, the people must be fully engaged in anytransition
process. This is therefore a poignant reminder to the entirebroad spectrum
of civil society in Zimbabwe to assert our
sovereignty.

lReginald Matchaba-Hove is a
political commentator, a legalpracticioner and a women's rights
activist

DEAR Cabinet
and Politburo Members What a terrific start to
the new year this has been, comrades. I justlove every minute of
it.

The way things have been going in the
last couple of weeks, I am morethan convinced that God himself is an ardent
fan of our great party and ourrevolutionary land reform
programme.

How else can you explain the
pleasant scenario we find ourselves in?

That little man Tony Blair is literally in tears pleading with Englandand
Wales Cricket Board chairman David Morgan to withdraw the English teamfrom
its Cricket World Cup fixtures in Harare.

Morgan remains transfixed as if unable to make up his mind, then allof a
sudden, he tells Blair straight to his face that the English cricketteam
will be playing in Harare on February 13.

Good gracious, what a marvellous way to shame Tony Blair, defeatingthe
little man's evil scheme to demonise our great country in the sportingworld
- and this with the help of his own kith and
kin!

Comrades, how I wish South Africa,
Kenya and Zimbabwe could host theCricket World Cup every
month.

I am also informed that Blair could
soon be in even more embarrassingtrouble, trying to restrain his wife
Cherrie from flying over to see ourirresistible Victoria
Falls.

Remember David Livingstone's
statement of submission to the alluringmagic of the falls: "Scenes so lovely
could only have been gazed upon byangels in their
flight."

But on a more serious note, I am
instructing Comrade Made at Lands andAgriculture to ensure every English
cricket team player who visits Zimbabweis given a
farm.

Those who bring along their families
can get the farm together withthe farmhouse and household property,
including pots and pans, as well asfarm machinery, livestock and any other
valuables seized from the previouswhite
owner.

Morgan and England captain Nasser
Hussain should be given two farmseach.

I am, as you all know, a great cricket fan. I'm sure Comrade Mohadiwill take
all steps necessary to ensure that I watch my game in peace. Iappointed him
to my war Cabinet because I knew him to be a no-nonsense man.So I have
absolutely no doubt that the cricket games will be as tranquil asI wish them
to be.

I'm sure I don't need to remind
Comrade Mohadi or any member of thewar Cabinet that the crackdown against
all those threatening violence duringthe games, many of who turn out to be
MDC supporters, needs to be steppedup.

I would suggest we round up troublemakers like National
ConstitutionalAssembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku and anybody else who wants
to join him inthose demonstrations he says he wants to stage during the
cricket games.

These scoundrels should be
thrown into Chikurubi maximum prison orworse. Do we still have crocodile
farms at Kariba Dam, Kembo? I'm sure I don't need to say
more.

THE United Nations' Food and
Agriculture Organisation has pledged 350000 doses of foot-and-mouth vaccines
for Zimbabwe's Department of VeterinaryServices, following pleas for
assistance to fight the disease to theSouthern Africa Development Community
(SADC) and the South
Africangovernment.

Veterinary Services
principal director Stuart Hargreaves said Zimbabwehad approached the SADC
secretariat last year for help in fighting foot andmouth, an outbreak of
which resulted in the suspension of regional andinternational beef exports
in 2002.

Hargreaves said Zimbabwe,
hampered by severe foreign currencyshortages from importing foot-and-mouth
medication, had requested 2.3million of doses of vaccines from the SADC
secretariat.

Meanwhile, the South African
Meat Industry Company (Samic), worriedabout the spread of the disease beyond
Zimbabwe's borders, has also appealedto its government to assist the
cash-strapped Zimbabwean authorities bypaying for
vaccines.

Hargreaves told the Financial
Gazette: "We are still waiting for aresponse. But on Friday I was informed
verbally that the Food andAgriculture Organisation will be giving us 350 000
doses of vaccines forfighting the foot-and-mouth
disease."

He said although foot-and-mouth
was a "major regional problem",southern African countries needed
international assistance to deal with thedisease, which could be spread
easily through the illegal trade in animalsand their
products.

The movement of cattle from
Zimbabwe, for instance, is believed tohave contributed to the outbreak last
week of foot-and-mouth in Botswana,which has led to the suspension of meat,
dairy and hide imports to SouthAfrica and the European Union
(EU).

Indiscriminate movement of animals
within Zimbabwe itself is believedto have resulted in the outbreak of
foot-and-mouth in Matabeleland lastyear, which also forced the EU and South
Africa to suspend Zimbabwean
meatimports.

The illegal movement of
animals in Zimbabwe has been facilitated bythe government's controversial
land reform programme, which has led towildlife and cattle being moved
around the country indiscriminately.

Samic
chief executive Manie Booysen said the only way to protect SouthAfrica's
meat industry from the devastating impact of foot-and-mouth was forthat
country's government to foot the bill for Zimbabwe's
vaccines.

He said that his organisation
had urged the South African governmentto provide vaccines, at an estimated
cost of between R14 million and R25million, since Zimbabwe did not have
adequate foreign currency to
importmedication.

"The appeal was done
on behalf of veterinary services in the regionbecause we are seriously
concerned about what is happening down there,"Booysen told the Financial
Gazette.

"From our side, we had a meeting
where we realised that there was aneed to fight the disease from the source,
which is that side," he added.

Booysen
said because of foot-and-mouth, South Africa had stoppedbuying meat and
hides from Zimbabwe. However, he said the products werestill finding their
way to South African because of rampant smuggling.